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What is the meaning of being on tenterhooks and how did this phrase originate?
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What is the origin of the phrase on tenterhooks?
A tenter is a frame on which cloth is stretched during manufacture, so that it may dry evenly. The frame is outfitted with sharp hooks or bent nails that hold the cloth stretched. These hooks, you will not be surprised to learn, are called tenterhooks. Cloth-stretching being outside of most people's range of experience these days, tenterhook is rarely found except in the figurative expression on tenterhooks, meaning 'in a state of uneasy suspense or painful anxiety'.
Where did the term of being sacked in relation to losing your job originate from?
It's an old term from the trade-guild era. When you got dismissed, you put your tools in a sack and left.
What is the meaning of the word 'obscured'?
The word "obscured" is a verb meaning keep from being seen or to conceal. Another meaning is to make unclear and difficult to understand. It is the past tense form of the word obscure.
Where does the name neese originate?
Neese is Celtic in origin being the Celtic word for choice or chosen. It was mostly used in the Scottish areas as a word and later as a name for a sub-clan of the MacGregors.
What does the name Deangelo mean?
Deangelo (D'Angelo) may be Italian in origin meaning "from Angelo", Angelo being a male given name meaning "angel".
What is the origin of the phrase on tenterhooks?
A tenter is a frame on which cloth is stretched during manufacture, so that it may dry evenly. The frame is outfitted with sharp hooks or bent nails that hold the cloth stretched. These hooks, you will not be surprised to learn, are called tenterhooks. Cloth-stretching being outside of most people's range of experience these days, tenterhook is rarely found except in the figurative expression on tenterhooks, meaning 'in a state of uneasy suspense or painful anxiety'.
What does waiting for a phone call you were on tender hooks?
Tenterhooks are hooks in a device called a tenter, used in the process of making woollen cloth. Being "on tenterhooks" means being in a state of tension, uneasiness, anxiety, i.e. feeling stretched like the cloth on the tenter.
How do you use the word tenterhooks in a sentence?
Tenterhooks are vicious s-shaped hooks, used to stretch linen in the fields, one end snagged through the cloth and the other end looped over a wooden frame. Being on tenterhooks would involve having one snagged through each hand/foot, then pulled out tight - so not particularly comfortable.
Where did the latin phrase ad hoc originate?
In latin, ad hoc means 'to this'. Ad hoc, meaning impromptu or unplanned, refers to things that are being executed at the time of saying and often have an improvised character.
What is the meaning of the phrase being behind the curve?
your mam
There is a phrase that is used such as being done instead of to be done these two words are having meaning or what?
There is a phrase that is used such as BEING DONE instead of TO BE DONE. These two words are having save meaning or what?
What is the meaning of the phrase walk on his family?
It means he is being unkind to his family.
What is the meaning for time being in Malayalam?
"Time being" in Malayalam can be translated to "ഇപ്പോൾ നിലവിലെ സമയം" (ippol nilavilae samayam).
Where does the phrase 'if looks could kill' originate from?
According to Wiktionary, one of the possible origins of this phrase dates back to the legend of Medusa, who was the mythological being who could turn any creature or being into stone by just looking them in the eye.
Where does the word avatar originate?
the sanskrit word avatara meaning the descent or reincarnation of a divine being in Hindu
Where did the phrase not fat fluffy originate?
I believe it originated with the drawing of a female sheep (ewe), with the phrase, "Ewe's not fat, ewe's fluffy", with the message being 'You aren't fat, you're just fluffy'.
What word or phrase means 'that which provides a sense of meaning to one's life'?
The phrase you are looking for is "raison d'etre," French for "reason for being."
